Sunday, June 24, 2007

It's All Tied Up!!




Video recap of race 2 America's Cup

This America's Cup has been a procession - he who leads round the first mark wins - but Barker threw all that overboard with a fine manouevre.

Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth's 16-race winning streak in America's Cup finals ended when he tacked conservatively on the second beat and Barker shot his boat into the windward position, then taking advantage of a wind shift and establishing a commanding 15s lead into the final downwind run, lengthening out in the final run.

Until that mistake and Barker moment, many minds were beginning to turn to the fact the last three America's Cup matches had produced a 5-0 scoreline. Alinghi had again demonstrated superior boatspeed - and this time in conditions supposed to benefit the Kiwis.

Instead of the choppy, sloppy water and patchy wind of race one, there was a breeze of 9-10 knots; the lighter airs which the team had been hoping for. Barker won a thrilling, aggressive pre-start but it was Alinghi who put themselves in the right place at the right time in terms of position on the water, picking the wind shifts off the water and generally finding more pressure than Emirates Team New Zealand.
Photos by ACM